Life of a Language Legend

Earlier this week, I finished 'Just a Phrase I'm Going Through: My Life in Language' by venerable linguist and writer David Crystal.  Earlier today, I finished writing a post about it, which unfortunately got swallowed by Blogger.  An extreme ellipsis that had me using some choice language I can tell you.  Anyway, here we go again!

Book 128:
'Just a Phrase I'm
Going Through:
My Life in Language'
by David Crystal
(Routledge, 2009)

In 'Just a Phrase I'm Going Through', Professor Crystal gives us a snapshot of what it means to be a linguist.  Driven by a passion for language and a boundless curiosity, he follows a childhood in North Wales and Liverpool with an academic career at University College London and later the universities of Reading and Bangor.  Seizing the opportunities presented by the burgeoning new science of Linguistics, he is able to explore and expand a range of fields and interests, including speech therapy, grammar and language teaching.  Following government cuts in the 1980s, however, Professor Crystal decides to leave academia, but this is far from the end of his linguistics journey.  He finds new roles, including broadcaster, consultant, writer and encyclopedia compiler, applying his endless energy to an ongoing quest to make knowledge accessible and encourage the public's interest in the words and language they use everyday.  It is a route Professor Crystal still follows.

To me, this book was the antithesis of the typical celebrity biography.  Rather than the author being the star of the show, language, Linguistics and Professor Crystal's ongoing passion for them both was centre stage.  His private life is often the catalyst for his work, but on the whole it took a comfortable back seat and is not the main focus of the book.  This means that the reader is able to learn something about Professor Crystal without feeling like they're intruding.

Professor Crystal was a bit of a legend for my A Level English Language group and 'It's Just a Phrase I'm Going Through' reminded me of how I felt about Linguistics in my late teens.  How much it fascinated me and how wonderful it was to have the freedom to study this amazing subject.  Thanks to him, we could pursue our interest because we had access to informative, well written and highly readable books on the subject.  We didn't have to wade through the tomes that almost put him off at our age, so, thank you, Professor.

Overall, this is a funny, interesting, touching, informative book which should appeal to anyone with an interest in the study of language or the Professor himself.  It tends to follow themes rather than exact chronology, but the writer's deft, accessible style means you never feel lost.  In fact, most of the time I was completely absorbed and found Professor Crystal's positivity and enthusiasm for life completely infectious.  I was sad to finish the book and look forward to reading more by him in the future.  Just as well really, I have at least three other books by him...

Now, from one book by a bearded man about a bearded man to another.  Bernard Cornwell's been chronicling Uhtred again!

Wondering About

On the train back from the British Museum, I randomly started reading 'The Psychic Tourist' by journalist William Little.  Yesterday, I finished it.

The journey begins when Little buys an astrological birth chart for his sister and her daughter as a gift.  Unfortunately, they both predict a water-related death, something which terrifies his sibling and affects badly, making her avoid travelling on or over water at any cost and give up water-based hobbies.  Upset that his gift has caused so much distress, Little decides to start and investigation into the world of psychics and prediction to find a way to undo the damage he's done.

Having enjoyed 'Will Storr vs the Supernatural', I hoped that this too would be an interesting and thought provoking read.  It's also described as funny in a number of reviews, so I thought it would be entertaining too.  Unfortunately, although it does start off in a similar way as Storr's book, it meanders quite a lot and doesn't always seem to stick to it's destination of the truth about predicting the future, often straying into a more general look at psychics instead.  It's almost as if the author wanted to write a different book but couldn't control his own destiny.

By the end, the more lighthearted tone is all but out of sight.  While it's interesting that Little takes his investigation to a new level, interviewing a combination of Physicists, Nobel-prize winners and experts in Quantum Theory, it means he has to resort to including long quotes from books and people.  I can understand why.  Many of these ideas are hard to understand for non-academics and it's safer to quote directly rather than try to explain it in lay language and lose meaning.  Unfortunately, this style also gives the book an essay feel, and essays are not usually fun or amusing.  Although if anyone knows of a funny, understandable and accurate essay on Quantum Physics, I'd love to hear about it!

Overall, 'The Psychic Tourist' was a bit of a disappointment.  With a rewrite that tightens up the structure and maps out the science so it's easier to understand, it would be a better book.  It's a shame as there are a lot of great and interesting ideas in here, many of which need to be shared with people like Little's sister to free them from excessive worry.  Maybe in the future Little will have the opportunity to revisit this book and give it a polish.  Who knows..!

Now, back to Groucho Marx!